Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the provincial capital of
Saskatchewan,
Canada and was incorporated as a city on
June 19,
1903. Regina was proclaimed the capital on
May 23,
1906 by the first provincial government led by
Premier Walter Scott.
As of the 2001 census, Regina's metropolitan area population was 192,800, of which 93,275 were males (48.4%) and 99,525 were females (51.6%). The median age was 35.9 years (males: 34.5, females: 37.0) with 80% of the population 15 years and over.
Regina is the Canadian city closest to the geographical centre of
North America at a
latitude of 50°26' north and a
longitude of 104°37' west. Regina's altitude is 577
metres (1,893 feet)
above mean sea level.
History
\nRegina was founded in 1882 when the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a transcontinental railroad line through the region. The Dominion Lands Act encouraged homesteaders to come to the area where they could purchase 160 acres (65 hectares) of land for $10. The city was originally known as the "Pile of Bones", because of the large amounts of buffalo bones in the area.\nThe hamlet of Pile of Bones was renamed in 1882 to Regina (Latin for queen) by Princess Louise, the wife of Canada's Governor General, in honour of her mother Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time. Reginans commonly refer to Regina as the "Queen City".
In 1883 Regina was chosen as the new capital of the Northwest Territories over Battleford, given its close proximity to the railroad. Regina remained the territorial capital until 1905 when Saskatchewan became a province. On December 1, 1883, Regina was officially declared a town. The town's first mayor, David Scott, was elected on January 10, 1884.
In one of the sombre notes of the city's history, Louis Riel was brought to Regina after being defeated by government forces in the North-West Rebellion. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged on November 16, 1885. The trial is re-enacted each summer by local actors in the Trial of Louis Riel.
From 1892 to 1920, Regina was the headquarters of the North West Mounted Police, and it is now western headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and home of the RCMP training academy. The RCMP Musical Ride is also performed there every summer.
With a population of more than 3,000, Regina was incorporated as a city on June 19, 1903, with Jacob W. Smith serving as the first mayor. After Saskatchewan became a province on September 1, 1905, Regina was officially decreed the capital on May 23, 1906. In 1908 the first city hall was completed on the current site of the Galleria in downtown Regina while work commenced on constructing the province's legislative buildings beside Wascana Lake.
On June 30, 1912, a tornado devasted the city, killing 28, injuring hundreds and destroying more than 400 buildings. The estimated $5 million dollars in damage took more than two years to repair.
In July 1933, a group of farmers, labour and social organizations met in Regina to form the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation or CCF. In 1944, the CCF would go on in Saskatchewan to form North America's first socialist government and provide Canada's first example of a publically funded health care system. The CCF health care model was later adopted across all of Canada.
Regina Riot
\nThe Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive unemployment in western Canada. As frustrations grew among the unemployed, 1300 men boarded trains in Vancouver bound for Ottawa to demand work from the federal government. The issue came to a boiling point in Regina, where the numbers had swelled to 1,800 by the time the Prime Minister intervened and ordered the protest to be disbanded. On July 1, 1935, the protests turned violent in the culmination of the "Regina Riot". During the three hours of fighting, one police officer was killed and over 80 protestors, police officers and bystanders were injured.
Transportation
\nThe city operates a fleet of buses for public transportation with access to the city centre from most areas of the city. Regina can be reached by several highways:
- Trans-Canada Highway, from the west and east sides\n* Highway 6 from the north and south. The US border is 160 km south on highway 6.\n* Highway 11 from the north/northwest. Saskatoon is 250 km NNW.\n* Highway 33 from the southeast.\n* Highway 48 from the northeast
Regina International Airport on the west side of the city has four gates which handles flights to major centres in Canada as well as daily flights to/from Minneapolis via Northwest Airlines.
Education
\nThe University of Regina located in the southeast corner of the city has over 11,000 students. The Public School Board operates over 50 elementary schools and nine high schools. The Separate School Board operates over 20 elementary schools and five high schools.
Nearby towns
\nTowns that are in close proximity to Regina include White City, Emerald Park, Balgonie, Lumsden, and Pilot Butte. Regina is 260 km south of Saskatoon (2.5 hour drive).
Sports teams
\nSports teams of Regina include the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, the Regina Rams of the CIS as well as the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
Wascana Centre
\nWascana Centre (WC) is a 9.3-square-kilometre park built around Wascana Lake. WC includes a Waterfowl Park that provides a refuge for geese and other birds that do not fly south for the winter. Speakers Corner on the north shore of Wascana Lake features gas lamps from London and birch trees from Runnymede Meadow where King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
During the fall and winter of 2003-2004, Wascana Lake was drained and then dredged to deepen its depth by about 5 metres (16 feet), primarily to decrease weed growth during the summer months. The dredging project was completed in mid-March 2004, just in time for the spring runoff. In the 1930s as part of a government relief project, 2100 men widened and dredged Wascana Creek using only hand tools and horse-drawn wagons to form Wascana Lake. The Albert Street bridge that passes over the lake is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest bridge to cross the smallest amount of water.
Local Media
\nRadio Stations
\n*540 CBK CBC Radio One News, general interest\n*620 CKRM Country\n*980 CJME News/Talk\n*91.7 CJTR-FM Community\n*92.1 CHMX-FM Lite92fm Lite/AC\n*94.5 CKCK-FM Rock 94 Rock\n*96.9 CBK-FM CBC Radio Two Classical\n*97.7 CBKF-FM Radio-Canada Premiere Chaine French-language\n*98.9 CIZL-FM Z99 Adult Contemporary/Top 40\n*102.5 CBKR-FM CBC Radio One Simulcast of 540 CBK\n*104.9 CFWF-FM 104.9 The Wolf Rock
Television Stations
\n*2 CKCK CTV\n*9 CBKT CBC\n*11 CFRE Global\n*13 CBKFT Radio-Canada
Newspapers
\n*The Leader-Post Daily\n*Regina Sun Weekly, free\n*Prairie Dog Weekly, free\n*Border Town News Weekly, free
Related articles
List of mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canadian provinces and territories, Canadian cities
\n| \n | North: Sherwood Park No. 159 | \n |
\n| West: Sherwood Park No. 159 | \nRegina | \nEast: Sherwood Park No. 159 | \n
| \n | South: Sherwood Park No. 159 | \n\n |
External links
\n*City of Regina web site
Attractions
\n*Casino Regina - located in an old train station\n*
MacKenzie Art Gallery\n*
RCMP Museum\n*
Regina Plains Museum\n*
Royal Saskatchewan Museum\n*
Saskatchewan Science Centre - includes an
IMAX theatre\n*
Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame
Category:Saskatchewan communities\n \n\n\n
